With shoes, boots, slippers and feet.
Ruby’s (almost) four!
She was my first conformation dog, and I’ve learned so much!
I learned that…
It’s not as much about the conformation of the dog, as it is about the brushing, nail trimming, bathing, diet, training and your bond together.
It’s not as much about the dog as it is about the handler’s skills, knowledge, and attitudes.
It’s not as much about the dog and the handler as it is about the unique conditions of the day, the competition, and the judge.
It’s not as much about the dog as it is about luck.
It’s not as much about the dog, handler, conditions of the day and luck, as it is about love.
Enjoy her birthday video.
Fifteen
We are celebrating Kaylah’s completion of fifteen earth years, on January 8th.
She was our second Schipperke, our first being a divine little beast whose physical form was a disaster; heart, liver, thyroid. Her fighting spirit and Schipperke elan delighted us. We’d adopted her at two, and we finally released her at six.
Kaylah (Mazeru’s Kenya) came to us from Anna Verleg, in Vernon BC. She was a feisty puppy, (factory installed) and I was a complete novice pet owner. She endured my ignorance with equanimity. Over the past decade and a half, I have diligently taught myself to be a better trainer and she has skilfully guided me to becoming a better human being.
Thank you, Kaylah.
You’re no better
A friend FB posted the now famous photo of Trump publicly mimicking a disabled person.
Someone immediately rebutted, saying that if you’ve ever circled your finger around your temple when referring to another person being ‘crazy’, you’re no better.
The subtext argument is that you’re just as bad as this person and you’ve no right to criticize their insensitivity because you’ve done things like that too.
This argument tends to give people pause, which possibly pleases the attacking person to see they were effective in stopping the conversation.
It’s good that we pause. It shows we are sensitive. We are reflecting on that person’s attack and taking responsibility.
In that crystalline pause lies the opportunity to further ask yourself, do I regret having said or done things like that? Do I strive to understand other people better, every day? Am I trying to learn more about other people’s history and their situations and be less reactive and judgmental?
All of us have been cruel or unthinking or unkind. We’re human.
All of us, have been ignorant or unaware of other people’s situations and have not been able to see their struggles through their minds, hearts and bodies. We’re human.
What is most supremely human is that we have the ability to see our ignorance and act to change it.
We can find the courage in ourselves to let go of what we’ve always believed or been taught. A person’s ability to say “I used to think…and now I know” is a measure of their freedom. A measure of their independent freedom of thought and their freedom from other people’s authority and control. In a word, maturity.
Sometimes, by accepting purposeful change in ourselves we lose things we once held dear, our past habits, or our present safe and familiar lives. Sometimes, we have to leave friends and family behind.
But I believe that our ability to self reflect and to courageously make changes in ourselves, is our greatest human potential.
I take constant inspiration in these turbulent times, from seeing mature people stand up, vulnerable to the temporary pain that comes from seeing the imperative for change and still choosing it.
So the next time someone says “You’re no better’, thank them for that reminder that none of us is better than the other, but that all of us can be better than we were.
Repurposing stuff
Today, I dismantled a single bed box spring with a pair of scissors and some needle nose pliers. It’s a fairly old box spring with Ruby chew marks at all corners.
Its next stop would be the landfill, so before that happened, I considered how I might repurpose it.
Box springs look quite luxurious in the store and they are pricey. It’s interesting to take one apart in about 15 minutes, revealing its less luxurious staples, cardboard, plastic, foam and polyester.
After stripping off the foam backed fabric, pulling out the staples, removing the large rectangle of cardboard, I was left with a fairly solid frame; screwed together, not stapled.
My plan is to bisect it and put wooden tops of each half to make two dog training platforms. I may decide to put some feet or wheels to elevate it from the ground and make them easier to move around outside.
Repurposing makes me feel happy.
Today, I am grateful for my husband who helps make my creative ideas a reality.
November light
Quickly, grab the camera, squeeze your mud boots on sockless.
The sun dazzles in a blue patch the clouds have overlooked.
I run to where the grass glistens and she follows,
Trotting behind me,
Then she turns and sits, waiting like a Dame.
Her moment in the sun.
(Samson) Blk Diamond “Larger than Life”
Samson will be 6 months old, December 15th, 2018.
Digital media makes it so easy to look back and see his growth over time and reflect on how much work a puppy is… but how very worth the effort. Thank you to Brenda Nilio and Virginia Larioza, for breeding a great puppy. Thank you also to Susan Garrett and all the Say Yes Community for teaching me to be a good trainer.
Samson (aka Bam Bam)
Five and half months old.
Brilliant and beautiful.
Winning!
My life offers me many epiphanies, bolts from the blue and similar “oh my Dawg” moments. Sometimes, they stick with me and change me for the better. Other times, I nod and smile at Life’s lovely face and say ‘ I got it’ but She usually knows better.
Winning is obviously one of Life’s pleasures. Succeeding, nailing it, scoring big…these things feel scandalously awesome and are meant to be thoroughly enjoyed and never minimized.
Recently, Ruby and I won a Best in Show at a United Kennel Club dog show. I am unabashedly proud of that.
However, I didn’t learn a damn thing.
And there’s my epiphany.
I’ve always been a bit shy about making friends with Life’s best mate, failure. He intimidated me. I just couldn’t warm up to him. So I usually do my best to avoid him and try not attract his attention at all. A strategy which is doomed to…failure.
Yesterday, after I experienced a nice, plump hunk of dog training failure, I gathered up the shards of my confidence. I turned them over in the light, admiring their rainbow reflections as I built my new plans. That’s when it came to me.
I have never learned a damn thing from winning. As tasty as it is, it’s just the icing on a rich thick cake that’s layered and layered with spicy sweet failures.
I think I’m warming up to Mr. Failure.
He’s starting to look like a real dreamboat.
What are trees for?
What are trees for?
They lift your gaze up from the ground, and draw it to the skies
Your soul will follow, grateful.
Their roots are deep, they will not move
They bear our biting axes and fall before our saws.
If we leave them standing, they will shape a bridge,
From earth to what’s beyond,
From what, to who we are.
They’ll catch the light and hold it tight
So we can gaze upon it,
They’ll dance for us,
With wind they’ll bend
and swing to ceaseless music.
And if we’re tired, they’ve sprinkled piney needles on the ground
A curving shallow scented nest where we can rest and breathe.
Climb up!
Embrace the trees that root and stand and sing and dance before you.
They’ll share their treasures with you, take you far beyond your dreams.
Terrie Rolph
Samson update
The Boy King is 16 weeks old today.
He marked this milestone by digging holes, terrorizing his sister Ruby, climbing on, under and through stuff and getting wet and dirty.
In the rain.
Over and over.
Note: Music courtesy of Kevin McLeod: Incompetech music. Creative Commons licence.
Kaylah
Sunning herself today, recovering from kennel cough brought to her via Ruby. In her 15th year of ruling the household.
Best Day Ever 